Kansas City Council gets formal plan for 'smart city' project

Kansas City Council gets formal plan for 'smart city' project

Kansas City and its partners plan to spend more than $15 million during the next decade on a "smart city" project.

City officials announced in May that Cisco Systems Inc. would make Kansas City its latest smart city, with the use of advanced technology to boost the efficiency of a range of services. On Thursday, Mayor Sly James introduced an ordinance authorizing City Manager Troy Schulte to enter into an agreement with the San Jose-based networking technology company.

The ordinance, which will be taken up by the City Council's Finance, Governance & Ethics Committee on April 22, also authorizes Schulte and Finance Director Randall Landes to execute various agreements regarding the project and its financing. The city declined to share those documents, which are still being negotiated, said Michael Grimaldi, a spokesman for the mayors office.

An ordinance fact sheet prepared by city Chief Innovation Officer Ashley Hand indicates that Kansas City will spend $3.8 million on the project over the next decade and that the amount will be matched and exceeded by nearly $12 million in private investment by Cisco ... and its growing list of partners. The figures give an idea of how much the project may cost in total.

The ordinance indicates the Smart + Connected Communities project will be organized around the citys 2.2-mile downtown streetcar line and may include a public Wi-Fi network built by Overland Park-based Sprint Corp.

A supplemental form provided by Hand said Cisco has been evaluating the city's needs in order to propose a program that will enhance Internet connectivity, make public infrastructure more efficient and introduce new revenue streams for the city.